Back to the Basics... Again

 

or How to REALLY Train, Eat, and Rest for Muscle Growth and Performance

Bill Starr was a man who knew—and inspired—the information contained in much of this article.

As of late, I have received more emails than I have in quite some time.  And most of them sorta, kinda—but not exactly, since I suppose it's almost human nature—surprised me.  Why?  Because most of them dealt with confusion in training.  Confusion about the proper diet, confusion about proper training (I'm 25 years old; should I follow your Ageless Bodybuilding program?), and even confusion over rest—a topic I just covered in my essay on "Stillness, Rest, and Relaxation" for muscle growth.  Geez!  Initially, I didn't really respond to the questions other than tell the said questioners to, you know, actually search my blog for the topics they are interested in learning more about.  But this morning, I thought, what-the-hell, it's always a good time to discuss getting back-to-the-basics—in training, in nutrition, and in rest—no matter how many times I've written about it before. 

I partly understand the confusion.  Some people are too lazy to search through the hundreds of entries and essays here on this blog.  Okay, well, I don't understand that, but I do understand being confused with all the "wealth" of information that is now available on the internet, from "news" stories on the best ways to train and eat, to YouTube videos and Instagram pages (confession: I don't really know what the hell happens on Instagram) made by influencers who are (typically) between 20 and 34 years of age—and really have no business telling anyone how to train and eat.  (Note: when you're 20 to 34, and have good genetics, you can pretty much get away with any sort of training or nutritional program, and get good results.  If you really want to get good results for yourself, then listen to those of us who have been training for decades.)

Here are my main tips (as of today, they could always be slightly different tomorrow when I remember something that I once knew, but then forgot, and then remembered it again) for back-to-the-basics training, eating, and resting.  These tips are good for anyone who wants to build muscle or boost his/her performance on the playing field, at the gym, or in the dojo.

Tip #1: Eat Like an Actual Human Person

I'm starting with diet, not necessarily because most of the questions I received were about nutrition, but because there is even more confusion out there over diet as there is over training.  Why?  Well, more people "diet" than train.  If you think you are confused, just think about the average grocery shopper who stops by the magazine rack—yes, they still have those—at the local grocer, and finds 20 different "dieting" magazines on keto, vegan meal planning, the carnivore diet, the Atkins solution, whole-food plant-based dinner recipes, and "mindful eating" as the latest way to really lose the pounds.

Here's an idea: how about you eat like an actual adult!  No cereal out of a box meant for little kids—yes, this means any boxed cereal, even the so-called "healthy" stuff; none of it is actually healthy.  No chips, candies, sodas (of any type), and—for that matter—just don't eat anything that comes in a box or a bag, not just cereal.  That old adage about shopping on the outside of the supermarket—you know, the area with fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, cheese, beef, fish, chicken, and all the good stuff from pigs—and avoiding the center aisles, where all the junk is located, is true.  And here's another thing: eating like an adult means also avoiding fast food!  That's right, fast food is for kids.  Any place that serves meals that includes a toy—actually, most adults that eat at fast food joints would do better to order the meals with toys—isn't meant for constant consumption.  Why? Just like the center aisles, it ain't real food.  All that processed crap found in fast food is meant to do one thing and one thing only: get you addicted to their food.  If you eat fast food each-and-every day, then guess what: you're an addict.  So break that cycle of addiction by actually feeding your body what it needs and wants.

Now, I'm not saying here—based on my prior sentence involving all the magazines at the supermarket—that you shouldn't follow certain "diets," but they don't need to be extreme.  (Not unless you're getting ready for a bodybuilding show, or you need to make weight for a powerlifting meet or a fight while keeping your strength and power as high as possible.)  Most of you will respond best to either higher carbs or higher fat diets.  I'm a "fat" person, for instance.  My body seems to respond better to fat than it does carbohydrates.  I eat approximately 50% fat, 30% protein, and 20% carbohydrates.  And the carbs I do eat are as close to their natural source as possible.  This means fruits, leafy green vegetables, and for starches, I stick with rice, potatoes, and oats (for the most part).  If you know you respond better to carbs, then flip those percentages on their heads, and go with 50% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fat.  And before someone sends me an email asking a question related to those numbers, yes, some people seem to respond to almost equal amounts of carbs, fat, and protein, but I would say that they are very much in the minority, "Zone diet" be damned.

Because I know that carbs can easily make me fat, sometimes I eat less than 20%, but sometimes I eat a little more—but only if I have had several days in a row of both martial arts and lifting sessions, and my muscles are screaming for glycogen the way that giant man-eating plant in "Little Shop of Horrors" was screaming for human flesh.  "Feed me, Seymour!"  But here is what a typical day of eating looks like for me:

Meal #1: (Well, it ain't really a "meal," but you'll get the point.)  Upon waking, I typically go for a walk with my labrador Kenji Musashi, and drink plenty of fluid during the walk.  When I get back to my house, before I sit down at my computer to crank out brilliant pieces such as this, I have a couple cups of coffee with heavy cream and butter.  Depending on how much I drink, the calories—all from fat—add up to between 300 and 600.

Meal #2: A few hours later, I eat my first meal of solid food, which is typically, as of late 2 pork chops and 5 or 6 whole eggs.  I drink a couple of glasses of water or a Gatorade ZERO at this point, too.

Meal #3: Another few hours later, and I usually have a smoothie made with frozen fruit (typically either blackberries, raspberries, or mangoes), heavy cream, a couple of raw eggs, and some protein powder.  So that it's not so thick that it comes out like ice cream, I add water as needed.

Meal #4: My 4th, and final, meal in the evening varies more than the others.  But I almost always have either a steak, some chops, or some chicken thighs with a salad, and if I need more carbs, then I have either a bowl of rice or a large baked sweet potato lavished generously with real butter, I might add.

Okay, enough with the diet.  I have some more tips that would help, but since I don't want this to be the length of a dissertation, and since it's always good to have material for another essay, let's move on to Tip #2...

Tip#2: Use Full-Body Programs with Basic, Compound Movements

If you are at all confused over your current training regimen, or don't know what to do in order to start growing muscle or getting stronger again, then simply return to a basic, 3-days-per-week full-body workout program that focuses on the basic, compound lifts.  And if you have never used such a program, well, that is your problem right there.  (The thought of any lifter not starting his/her training with basic, full-body workouts makes me want to beat my head repeatedly against my keyboard until I fade into deep, dreamless nirvana, but I'll refrain from doing so at the moment so that I can finish this article.) (Note: that was a joke, so whoever sent me the email asking me why I'm such an old curmudgeon, please don't send me another.)

Years ago, I would have thought that telling people to do a basic, full-body, 3-day program would have been enough.  But now I know better.  I've even received emails about confusion over this just from reading my site alone since I do have different 3-days-per-week programs that fit the bill, so do your best to even keep this tip as simple as possible.

My advice is to start with a heavy/ light/ medium program.  I have multiple programs that explain the nuances of that, or you can read any article ever written by the late, great (and my mentor) Bill Starr.  I'm not going to go into the details of a H/L/M program here, only because to do so requires an entire article in itself.  Of course, just because that's my advice doesn't mean that you have to follow it.  If you want something really easy, then just do the following program on 3 non-consecutive days-per-week (such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday):

On ALL exercises: do a couple of warm-up sets, then 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps—only the 3rd set of 5 should be all-out.  If you manage 5 reps on your last set, then add weight at the next session.

Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps 

Overhead Presses: 3 sets of 5 reps

Chins: 3 sets of 5 reps

Power Cleans: 3 sets of 5 reps

Flat or Incline Bench Presses: 3 sets of 5 reps

Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 5 reps

Weighted Sit-Ups: 3 sets of 5 reps

If you know that you respond better to less work, or if you are limited in the amount of times-per-week that you can make it to the gym, then simply train 2-days-per-week (such as Monday and Thursday).  In fact, for many of you it would probably be ideal to rotate between 3-days-per-week followed by a week of 2-days-per-week, then repeat.

You can always substitute exercises, but don't substitute a harder one for an easier one.  And stick with basic free weight movements, not machines.  Instead of squats, you can do bottom-position squats, front squats, zercher squats, box squats, overhead squats, or heavy dumbbell squats.  Instead of barbell bench presses you can do dumbbell bench presses, weighted dips, incline or decline dumbbell presses, or weighted push-ups.  Instead of power cleans, you can do power snatches, dumbbell cleans or snatches, deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, or deficit deadlifts.  I hope you get the picture without me having to give you options for each exercise.  Just make sure you trade a heavy, hard, free-weight exercise for another heavy, hard, free-weight movement.

Tip#3: Add Loaded Carries or Heavy Dragging Movements to Your Program

Anyone who is familiar with my "Big 4" knows that I'm a fan of dragging or carrying different implements.   In many cases, it's the "missing link" to creating a truly great program, and becoming a great athlete.

The first exercise most lifters start with—because the equipment is readily available—is the farmer's walk.  Simply pick up a pair of heavy dumbbells or kettlebells, and take off for either time or distance, improving either your time or your distance at each session.  Distance is the easiest if you train by yourself.  The question I'm usually asked with this exercise, and other loaded carries, is "how far?"  Well, it depends on your strength level the same way as asking "how heavy?" when it comes to barbell lifts.  Generally, however, most people do either lighter carries for longer distance or heavy carries for shorter distance.  I'm obviously a fan of the heavy carries for short distance. Pick up a pair of dumbbells ranging from 80 pounds to 150 pounds each, and take off.  Add distance at each session until you're doing heavy carries for long distance.  You'll be amazed at the changes in your physique at this point.

You don't want to constantly change your "odd" lift, but you do want to do so after three or four weeks using the same exercise, and once you have made some noticeable gains on it.  For carries, switch over to "suitcase" walks, where you carry a 'bell in one hand.  Go for a distance, and then switch hands on the way back.  After a few weeks of those, switch over to sandbag or duffle bag carries.  Fill a sandbag or duffle bag with 50 to 100 pounds of rocks or sand, and use the same technique as you did with the farmer's walks.

After a couple of months or more of loaded carries, add in a "dragging" movement.  Don't substitute it for the carries, but do it in addition to the carries.  Load a sled or a wheelbarrow (without wheels; just use the empty shell and pile weights in it, and tie a strap to the front) with a fairly heavy weight, and use the exact same principle as the loaded carries.  Use a heavy weight, start out with a short distance, and then build up to a longer distance with same weight.  Once you can do that, add weight to the sled, and repeat.

Around a decade ago, I got the biggest I had been in almost twenty years from doing exactly the dragging/carrying advice here.  So don't neglect the importance of carrying and dragging heavy stuff.  You can send me an email and thank me later.

Tip #4: Learn How to Rest and Relax

If you want to get big or move big weights, then you also need to learn how to rest big.  I covered a lot of this in extreme detail in my recent post on "Stillness, Rest, and Relaxation: The Forgotten Keys to Muscle Growth" so just consider this the "cliff notes" version, with a couple of extra details thrown in.

I once read (I think it was on the online magazine "T-Nation") that the Cuban weightlifting team slept 9 hours each night, with a 3-hour nap in the middle of the day.  I don't know if this is true or simply apocryphal—and, yes, I do realize that this means they "slept half their life away"—but the principle of it holds true.  If you're gonna get big and strong, then you need to learn how to rest big, as well.

Years ago, as an elite powerlifter, when I was following the Russian "Sheiko" program, I researched all I could on Russian lifters—and other lifters from the former Soviet Republic—and discovered one thing that kind of surprised me at the time, but really shouldn't have.  The Russian lifters knew how to rest.  Big time.  They didn't just sleep a lot, but believed in getting quality rest throughout their entire day.  They lounged around, resting their bodes and their minds, and saving all of their energy for meets.  You could even see this ability to relax when you watched them at a powerlifting meet.  They always stayed relaxed, like some mythic kung-fu master, and continued to stay relaxed right up until they were ready for their lift(s).  Then they would "flip the switch" to pure power, then go back to relaxing once they crushed said lift.

Resting is more than just "not doing anything" or making sure you sleep a lot.  If your mind and body is not in a relaxed state—if you need constant stimulation through social media or television—even if you're doing it while lounging on your couch, then you're not relaxing.

Your mind needs to "rest in its natural state."  You can do this through meditation, prayer, or even something such as "Wim Hof" breathing exercises.  In fact, learn how to breathe.  I'm lucky, I guess, in that I learned how to breath properly in the Karate dojo of my youth, where we were taught to breathe into our "tanden"—the area directly below your navel—and not through our chest, the way most people in the West breathe.  Learn to breathe slowly, rhythmically into your lower stomach, and you'll be amazed by how much it relaxes—and refreshes—both body and mind.

In order to get good, quality sleep at night, limit your caffeine intake to early in the day.  After I have my morning coffee, for instance, then I refrain from caffeine for the rest of the day, even if I have an intense training session in the evening.  Doing so allows me to fall asleep easily when I get in bed, and I (generally) sleep throughout the night, then wake up refreshed early in the morning—at the same time every morning—without the need for an alarm.

Closing Thoughts

I hope this summation of getting back-to-the-basics when it comes to lifting, eating, and resting has been of some help to you.  I'm sure that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, I'll have to do a "Back to the Basics.. Yet Again" essay, but until then good luck and good training.  As always, you can email me or leave questions in the comments section below.  I eventually get around to answering your question(s)... unless you're that guy who called me an old curmudgeon.